Jerusalem In My Heart

Peace is the noblest of aspirations, but can one always say, "Peace at any price"?

As a Jew living in the United States, I have long denied myself the right to intervene in Israel's internal debates. I consider Israel's destiny mine as well, since my own memory is bound up with its history. But the politics of Israel concerns me only indirectly. I find its electoral vagaries interesting, its blunders embarrassing, but as I am not an Israeli citizen, I am not directly involved. I may have more sympathy for a particular politician or greater reservations about another, but that's my personal business; I don't talk about it.

This behavior at times results in "open letters" and acerbic articles scolding me for not protesting whenever Israeli police or soldiers react excessively to violence from Palestinian soldiers or civilians. I rarely answer. My critics have their conception of social and individual ethics; I have mine. But while I grant them their right to criticize, they sometimes deny mine to abstain.

Now, though, the topic is Jerusalem. Its fate affects not only Israelis, but also Diaspora Jews like myself. The fact that I do not live in Jerusalem is secondary; Jerusalem lives within me. Forever inherent in my Jewishness, it is at the center of my commitments and my dreams.

Jerusalem, for me, is above politics. Mentioned more than 600 times in the Bible, Jerusalem is the national landmark of Jewish tradition. It represents our collective soul. It is Jerusalem that binds one Jew to another. There is not a prayer more beautiful or nostalgic than the one which evokes the splendor of its past and the shattering and enduring memory of its destruction.

I remember when I went to Jerusalem for the first time; I felt that it was not the first time. Yet each time I revisit the city, it is always for the first time. What I feel and experience there, I feel nowhere else. I return to the house of my ancestors; King David and Jeremiah await me there.

In the political division now being considered, the greater part of the Old City of Jerusalem would come under Palestinian authority. The Temple Mount, beneath which lie the vestiges of the temples of Solomon and Herod, would thereafter be controlled by the new Palestinian state.

That Moslems might wish to maintain close ties with this city unlike any other is understandable. Although its name does not appear in the Koran, Jerusalem is the third holiest city in Islam. But for Jews, it remains the first. Not just the first; the only.

How can we forget that between 1948 and 1967, while the Old City was occupied by Jordan, Jews were denied access to the Western Wall in spite of a signed agreement between the two governments? At that time Arabs, who were asking for an Arab state, never mentioned Jerusalem.

Why are the Palestinians now so anxious to make Jerusalem their capital? Anxious enough to jeopardize the Oslo accords?

We are told that Israel's unprecedented concessions, including those on Jerusalem, were made for a good cause. For peace. This is a weighty argument. Peace is the noblest of aspirations; it is worth the sacrifice of that which is most precious to us. I agree.

But is it appropriate in all circumstances? Can one always say, "Peace at any price"? To compromise on territory might seem, under certain conditions, imperative or at least politically expedient. But to compromise on history is impossible.

You may ask me, what about peace in all this? I continue to believe in peace with all my heart. I am wary, though, of anything that amounts to appeasement. Would giving most of the Old City of Jerusalem to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and the extremists be a reward for their actions?

The Palestinians also insist on "the right of return" for more than three million refugees. On this question, Israel is united in its refusal. It may be necessary to recall the history of this Palestinian tragedy. In 1947 Israel accepted the plan for the division of Palestine; the Arabs rejected it.

In 1948, David Ben-Gurion reached out to what was to be the Palestinian state. Not only did the Arabs reject the proffered hand; they sent six armies to strangle the newly born Jewish state. Incited by their leaders, 600,000 Palestinians left the country convinced that, once Israel was vanquished, they would be able to return home.

I have seen their children in the Gaza refugee camps; their fate can leave none of us indifferent. It is imperative that we resolve this problem. But the solution of a mass return is unthinkable. To many Israelis, that would be tantamount to suicide, just as cutting Jerusalem from its roots would be spiritual suicide.

What I am about to say I say with great sadness: After seeing on television, during the intifada, the faces of young Palestinians twisted with hate, it is more difficult than ever before for me to believe in the Palestinians' will for peace. It is not that they want a smaller Israel; they want no Israel at all.

And yet. Though all options appear to have been exhausted, peace remains our single common hope; violence and war have filled too many cemeteries on both sides. This cannot and must not go on. Most Israelis feel as I do: Palestinians must have the right to live freely and with dignity, without fear and without shame. It is incumbent upon the world and Israel to do everything to help them and to do so in ways that do not make them lose face.

I am particularly concerned with the Israeli Arabs. They are citizens of Israel, and their civic rights must be protected at all costs.

As for Jerusalem, would it not be better to resolve all other pending questions first and defer until a later time decisions about the fate of the holiest of cities? I still believe human bridges can be built between the two communities, through reciprocal visits between students, teachers, musicians, writers, artists, business leaders, and journalists.

Perhaps in 20 years, the children of these people will be better equipped to approach that most burning of questions: Jerusalem. Perhaps they will then understand why the Jewish soul carries within it the wound and the love of a city whose keys are protected by its memory.

(The writer, a professor of humanities at Boston University, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.)

About the Author

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Visitor Comments: 8

(6)
Anonymous,
July 4, 2016 6:04 PM

Appreciate where his words come from...

Only Elie Wiesel can write (think) with such a unique panoramic perspective in addition to the depth that his personal experiences have loaded him with....SO READ AGAIN, UNDERSTAND AND ASPIRE TO WALK IN HIS FOOTSTEPS...

(5)
Karl Mark,
March 28, 2015 2:02 PM

Hate - is worse than murder

Hatred is a powerful force, just as love is. If generations are taught how to hate than how to love, we have more wars than peace. It is not as though a city like Jerusalem evokes hate or love for a city is but a mass of brick and stone and trees. But it is the heart of man that needs more repair than the city. When Palestinians and Jews are taught to love and not hate - then peace is born in their hearts. Then Jerusalem will see peace - till then it remains shattered and the rumble of war will be louder than peace accords on paper. What remains is only a city filled with monuments of the dead. Palestinians and Jews that lie in peace under the ground, not alive and walking together on the top of it.

Dvirah,
July 23, 2016 8:19 PM

One Year Later

Although this comment was written a year ago I would like to answer it now. The commenter states truly that "When Palestinians and Jews are taught to love and not hate - then peace is born in their hearts." But it is very clear in 2016 that the education each group gives its children is very different. Jews, if not actually taught to love their enemies are at least taught to refrain from hating. Palestinians, on the other hand, are deliberately inculcating hatred and a philosophy/lifestyle of terrorism in their children practically from the cradle. Hate is not "worse than" muder: hate leads to murder.

(4)
Sue,
May 20, 2014 2:25 PM

God said: Don't divide his land!

Jerusalem belongs to the Jews of
Israel and all over this world!

(3)
Anonymous,
January 25, 2002 12:00 AM

Jerusalem lives in my heart too!

I am not an Israeli.
I am not even a Jew.
I have visited Israel four times and every time I leave I cannot wait to return again. There is something there -a connection to a past - roots. And I mourn for the sorrows of Jerusalem - for her lack of peace - for the terrors of her children. I mourn for a people so torn apart by hatred that they cannot and will not see the path to peace. I mourn for Jerusalem herself, beset on all sides by enemies seeking to tear her to shreds.
I pray that Moshiach will come - that He will reveal Himself to Israel and bring about the era of peace and harmony that the prophets have announced.
I pray that all of us - Jew and Gentile, Israeli and Palestinian - will have the courage to put aside hatred and join hands in peace to rebuild Jerusalem in glory and to establish the Temple as "a house of prayer for ALL peoples," as Isaiah had prophesied.

Andrea,
November 19, 2011 5:49 PM

God bless you for your comment. The Temple must be restored, and Jerusalem must be recognized as the undivided capital of Israel.

(2)
Bob Hathaway,
July 27, 2001 12:00 AM

Only Mashiach

Mr. Wiesel, I greatly respect you and your writings. I can only say that I see the only way for peace with the Arabs is for Mashiach to return. Until then, there will never be peace with them. Their position is too intractible. They are teaching the children to hate just as they hate today. Only Mashiach can change a heart.
Jerusalem will never be divided nor given up. It is the city of our great G-d, who's Presence never leaves it.

(1)
Anonymous,
May 20, 2001 12:00 AM

It's About Time for All to Speak Out

Mr. Wiesel's beautiful article reminds me that too many of us have been too uninvolved, it is indeed time to speak out, and Jerusalem must Never be allowed to fall away from Israel, it is G-d's City, we are the caretakers only!